Furthering a Compelling Governmental Interest

Taken from the State of Alaska Division of Finance Checkbook Online, is an excellent compilation of the areas of States government that are excluded from public scrutiny.

The State of Alaska is publishing information from the statewide accounting system on the web. This is part of a national trend for governments to develop websites that allow constituents to view financial information in searchable formats. Such websites are widely considered to improve transparency into the financial operations of government.

Governor Palin supported this trend, and as a result, this website was created. Governor Parnell has demonstrated his strong support by ensuring the website stays highly visible. It includes:

• All vendors and grantees who received at least one payment of $1,000 or more in the current fiscal year through the end of January 2010. Individual payments of less than $1,000 are not included.
• Information presented includes the name and location of the vendor or grantee, the purpose of the payment, and the department that requested it.
• Payment information is aggregated. All payments of $1,000 or more are included, but amounts presented may be lower when payments are issued for more than one purpose.

Payments from certain payment systems have been excluded based on a confidentiality analysis performed by the Department of Law.

Alaska Payment Excluded Based on Condidentiality Analysis 2009

These "certain" exceptions are centered on programs which receive federal funding. A quick look at this list will show that all accounting in child welfare is excluded. That's right, there is no possible way for anyone, not even the State Auditor Generals, to look at the billing practices in child welfare.

Now, how's that for transparency?

Of course, there are those who will aver that state honor systems are part and parcel of a federalistic system, and that states exclude child welfare from public scrutiny to "further a compelling governmental interest."

If I am not mistaken, "furthering a compelling governmental interest" seems to mirror the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993. In the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling by Chief Justice Roberts (546 U.S. 418, 2006) the Court emphasized that Congress had constructed "a workable test for striking sensible balances between religious liberty and competing prior governmental interests" (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.)

Multiple prong tests for strict scrutiny have been legally constructed to determine whether an interest is a compelling governmental interest, the defenses, as well as the remedies throughout the states, in respect to RFRA. The same may be applied to public exceptions, or Freedom of Information Act exclusions and exemptions, that only State Attorneys General are granted with the power to strictly scrutinize what is and what furthers a compelling governmental interest.

It is the duty of the State Attorney General to protect the State and its citizens. Exposing fraud in the child welfare industry would devastate state general funds and cut off federal funding streams for lack of compliance.

Nine Exemptions

Exemption One: Classified national defense and foreign relations information.
Exemption Two: Internal agency personnel rules and practices.
Exemption Three: Information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law.
Exemption Four: Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential.
Exemption Five: Inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters that are protected by legal privileges.
Exemption Six: Personnel, medical, financial, and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Exemption Seven: Certain types of information compiled for law enforcement purposes.
Exemption Eight: Records that are contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of any agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.
Exemption Nine: Geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.

Three Exclusions

(c)(1) Exclusion: Subject of a criminal investigation or proceeding is unaware of the existence of records concerning the pending investigation or proceeding and disclosure of such records would interfere with the investigation or proceeding.
(c)(2) Exclusion: Informant records maintained by a criminal law enforcement agency and the individual's status as an informant is not known.
(c)(3) Exclusion: Existence of FBI foreign intelligence, counterintelligence or international terrorism records are classified fact.

Child Welfare qualifies for each and every exemption and exclusion, which I have previously published.  Fraud, in whatever form it is recognized, has gone through an intellectual metamorphosis to become an established constitutional right as a religious freedom. Simply put, fraud is now a First Amendment Right of privatized, contractual corporate individuals in child welfare and it is the obligation of the States, and every elected official who has signed on in support the "so-called parental rights" amendment, to further the compelling governmental interest of hiding all evidence of child welfare fraud.